Last month, Microsoft split the Beta channel into two and began flighting two separate preview builds of Windows 11 for Insiders in what can be called a staggered release.
The company has been updating both these versions regularly.
And it released a refresh again this week, with new builds for folks to check out. They come in the form of build 22621.586 and build 22622.586 (KB5016701), the details of which you can gather yourself from the official blog post.
These new versions of the preview launched alongside the Dev channel build 25188 that brought along many new features and improvements, only some of which the company officially cataloged.
Anyway, getting back to the Beta channel builds, build 22622.586 is the one that has new features rolling out, while build 22621.586 has the new features off by default. This is par for the course for Microsoft after the split.
There are plenty of improvements, bug fixes, and known issues for both builds, as the announcement post outlines.
Primarily, Redmond took care of a problem that caused DWM crashes that led to black flashes or content stuck on screen. Also fixed is an issue that caused SQL Server Management Studio to fail to launch.
But the bulk of the focus is on File Explorer, which the development team paid special attention to.
The company fixed an issue that caused the left half of File Explorer title bar to not be draggable via mouse or touch. Selecting multiple folders and then using the context menu to open them now does that, instead of opening the first folder in a new tab and all the others in a new window.
Microsoft also made a problem history that caused Home, Documents, Pictures, and potentially other folders to become unexpectedly duplicated.
Also fixed, is an issue that caused the Delete key to stop working on files all of a sudden in File Explorer. Redmond also vaporized a problem where the min/max/close button was not visible in File Explorer when using a contrast theme.
Pretty standard releases, these, but very necessary.
Get these versions if you are enrolled in the Beta channel of the Windows Insider program.
